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Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Wind-Eroded Terrain

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1217, 17 September 2005

Medium-sized view of MGS MOC Picture of the Day, updated daily
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a wind-eroded terrain. The ridges that cut across the scene from the lower right toward upper left (southeast to northwest) are classic yardangs, a landform created by wind erosion. These are located in the Eumenides Dorsum region of Mars.
Location near: 5.5°N, 159.0°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern Autumn


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Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, California. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, California and Denver, Colorado.

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